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Enlarge ImageRequest to buy this photoFred Squillante | Dispatch file photoFranklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien, pictured, said Lobbyist John Rabenold agreed to work with the FBI and Legislative Inspector General Tony Bledsoe in ongoing investigations.

Some current and former Ohio lawmakers could face criminal charges after a payday-lending
lobbyist agreed yesterday to cooperate with authorities to avoid jail time.

Lobbyist John Rabenold failed to disclose that he paid for lawmakers’ meals and treated them to
a Cincinnati Bengals game.

Under the agreement, Rabenold was fined $2,000 and given up to three years’ probation for two
counts of filing false legislative-activity reports with the legislative inspector general.

Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien said Rabenold agreed to work with the FBI and Legislative
Inspector General Tony Bledsoe in ongoing investigations into lawmakers who also failed to disclose
gifts, or illegally accepted gifts.

“Based on what he has said and what we believe he will add, I think there will be a few more
folks charged based on his expenditures and based on some other information we previously had,”
O'Brien said.

That previous information, O’Brien said, came from former state Rep. W. Carlton Weddington, a
Columbus Democrat who is serving a three-year prison sentence for crimes including bribery.

“Sometimes you have to tie multiple things together before you can move forward,” O’Brien
said.

Rabenold is currently not registered as a lobbyist but remains with Cincinnati-based Axcess
Financial, which runs Check 'n Go. He and his attorney have said it was a mistake to not disclose
the meals and gifts on his filings in late 2009 and early 2010. The activity occurred during a time
when payday lenders were fighting efforts to impose tighter regulations on the industry.

No lawmakers in 2009 reported receiving gifts or meals from Rabenold.

By law, a lawmaker failing to disclose gifts or meals worth more than $100 could face criminal
charges. Lawmakers also are prohibited from accepting any gift from a lobbyist of more than $75,
and there are indications the Bengals football tickets were worth more than that.

Rabenold has turned over to Bledsoe amended disclosure reports that reportedly name the
lawmakers involved.

Bledsoe said that under law, those reports are confidential until the Joint Legislative Ethics
Committee concludes its work on the matter.

A committee meeting has not yet been scheduled. O’Brien said that some future action will
involve Bledsoe and the committee, and some will not. He said action could come within the next
month.

“We had originally inquired about these omissions back in 2010, and we were then asked by the
FBI to not do anything further,” Bledsoe said. “Once Mr. Rabenold pled last month, we were able to
make the specific inquiries part of our investigation.”

The discovery of Rabenold’s gifts and meals was made during FBI investigations into Weddington
and former Rep. Clayton Luckie of Dayton (illegal campaign spending). Each legislator was sentenced
to three years in prison.